"Another protest is building steam. This time, its a boycott aimed directly at big media, called Black March. For the entire month of March, consumers are encouraged to not buy any media. Personally, I like the idea of this even better than the web blackout, as effective as it was. Sony, Disney, Fox, Paramount and the WB seem to think they are invulnerable because we, as consumers, have grown so dependent on them for our entertainment. Hopefully, a good participation level will show them exactly how wrong they are.Read more - w.po.st/share/entry/redir?publ…"Taken from 'The Inquisitr'

Honestly I couldn't agree more, protests aren't enough, Black March sounds like a great idea. If you are against SOPA, PIPA, ACTA and other forms of internet censorship...then hit them where it hurts, in the wallets. Since this whole issue boils down to money, show them that a terrible way to try increase their profits is pissing off the customers. Sitting back and thinking others will take care of it is how things like this slip by. If you enjoy your right to free speech, YOU have to act. I know a lot of their supporters have backed out of the bill..but its still important to show repercussions of such bills being pushed forward.

In other news? a word of advice, make sure info on both sides is taken with a grain of salt. I have seen all kinds of allegations flying both ways from things like, SOPA took down Megaupload, to the feds intentions to go after everyone on the Megaupload servers. Remember to do a bit of research and if you find anything interesting make sure to let others know or link it here?

What do you guys think? Is Black March a good idea? or do you think a small few are going to be bored for a month?

( Also there is the issue of some companies being against SOPA/PIPA, does anyone know a reliable source where we can find out who is in favour and who isn't?)

Edit*(cough cough....people have brought up some good points, "e.g If you want to do something that makes a statement, consider shifting your money not only away from corporate media but to independent media. Buy comics published by someone other than DC and Marvel. Buy books from small and independent presses. Support independent production companies who fight to stay independent and fan-focused. Better yet, buy things directly from creators and artisans. Support independent retailers. Don't just blanket punish media producers and distributorsrefocus those resources into supporting the ones who espouse and depend on free exchange of information and ideas"postcardsfromspace.tumblr.com/… taking my own advice and looking into other alternatives? perhaps shift your focus to supporting the independent film and music industry instead of the big corporate brands. You can do either but we must be VERY careful about what we do and make sure we don't end up hurting those who have been made vulnerable by the very people powering SOPA and PIPA. As always I am ready to listen to others on the issue, please if you have something to say or agree or disagree, feel free to voice your opinion here. If we want to do something we need a thorough understanding before hand of what we can do and what we need to avoid.

sent me here. I am working on supporting this, but it's hard to rally the family for this. They keep trying to find those none existent loop holes and still want to rent movies _V_ But I will continue to spread the word! Viva la revolution!

January 18th, 2012 was the largest online protest in history to stop the internet censorship bills, SOPA & PIPA. On January 20th, Congress shelved the bills indefinitely. If they return, we must be ready.

I go months at a time already without buying anything but food really, so this would be a problem at all for me. But I'm better people who live in cities would have a harder time. Ah, the perks of living in the boonies, they are few, but sometimes they are great.

agreed, but at the same time "Only buy entertainment from independent developers" doesn't sound like much of a war cry. Far more practical way to do things, and it would be just as effective, but it won't inspire the fierce passion that "boycott the entertainment industry" will.

Ehhh..kinda interesting since my degree I am studying is a film degree So if the film industry was crushed I would have a pretty useless qualification...lol... Yeah a boycott will evoke more passion than conscious consumerism.

What I want to see is the film industry develop better methods to combat piracy instead of trying to censor the internet.

want to combat piracy? make your product accessible as easily as the pirated version. Only things I pirate are things I can't otherwise get my hands on, and most of the people I know are the same. Sure, some piracy is going to happen regardless of how easy your movie/whatever is to get a hold of, but ease of access will cut a LOT of it down.

well iTunes is the spawn of satan himself, but yes that's the idea I was thinking Spotify for music, Netflix for movies and TV, Steam for video games, etc.

How often do EA games get pirated? all the freakin time. How often to Valve games get pirated? Not hardly at all, because they offer a nice service, easy to use and they give incentives to purchase their games, like constant updates that download through their client. it works, so not that many people pirate their stuff.

I just wish more companies were intelligent enough to figure that out....

I support the idea of buying independent for a month much more than boycotting entertainment in general. From what I've seen the people behind independent media are much more down-to-earth than their mainstream counterparts. They deserve recognition, not punishment.

There should be a flash-mobs of people covered in black or anything really and wearing different masks or sunglasses that cover the top have of their face with the word "censor" in red tape all over them. No ID, nothing.They'd be an example of the censoring. Once all of this shit is over with they could reveal who they are :3It could quite literally be a "Black March" lol

Uhg tell me about. It's why I did some editing on my journal to point out how important it is it be done safely and why people who are experienced in flash-mobs mangae and control it so nothing goes wrong.

Question. The only release in March I am planning on getting is Hetalia Season 1 and 2 Combo Pak. From what I assume, most of the money goes to people in Japan and within Funimation. Though I could be wrong. So is that an ok thing to buy? Or should I stick to watching episodes online until everything settles down?

in my opinion we should all wait (: as hard as it may be.. they rely on our will to buy, that's why they dare to issue these bills, apart from their need of censorship over the most powerful communication means across the world.

Intriguing idea. I've been struggling to think of how one could actually pitch in on the SOPA/PIPA resistance without just parroting things other opinion leaders have already said. One question though: by "not buying any media," does that extend to cable TV as well? I'd imagine my family would hate me for trying to pass that propaganda around (thank gawd Rescue Me ended or I couldn't even entertain that notion).

I'm not sure who is and isn't in favor of these bills, though I think Mozilla has either said something against these bills or would actually be hurt by their passing considering they distribute their software for free and have wonderful add-ons like ScreenGrab!. Aside from the obvious answer that no online retailer would want to see these passed, however, I'm not sure who is and isn't in favor of these bills. To parrot something another opinion leader has already said, videos in this library might be helpful in figuring things out (though they tend to be 15 minutes long and present many unpleasant truths/scenarios), [link] .

For what it's worth, I agree with the other posts encouraging people to buy goods directly from creators and small stores. Lord knows the indies need enough help as it is, so why not stick it to the man in the process?

My media literacy teacher just chewed us out yesterday over that word "media." You know, if they're serious about the entire black march ordeal, that would mean that not only will they be getting rid of film, television, and logo products, but also the internet, their smart phones, and newspapers... >.> I'm not throwing this at you in particular, but I guess a different word should be used instead of "media..." :T

I do like this idea though. It's too bad that I could never follow through with it. OTL

lol.... This I support, not like I buy many movies, music nor watch or listen to them......

ALSO!

YouTube*Cough*googletube*cough**cough* are also saying a screw you to people who hate the new layout over there by forcing users to change to the new channel layout with no option which looks compleatly HORRIBLE! This is also on March..... soooo..... try and boycott YT as well.... IF you hate the new layout of course.

I say I won't have much trouble doing this black march thing. I don't like mainstream music and most of the movies that come out are trash to me. I won't mention TV either because that box's closed as soon as I can close it (some people in my house don't see things like I do, that's fine. But I can't handle having that thing on when I can do something about it).

So even if that black march was a year ago, I would be in, so I'm in now.